Poop research might get a more polite name

A poop by any other name is still a poop, but scientists are proposing a new name to describe the science of stool: in fimo. If it sticks, we might need to get used to hearing the phrase more often.

The proposal, recently published in the journal Gastroenterology and first reported by Science News, calls for a new name for the experimental investigations of poop. Lead author Aadra Bhatt is an assistant professor at the UNC School of Medicine who studies cancer and the interaction between bacteria, drugs, and the gut. That means that she needs to study poop and the stuff inside it. But when she was writing up a research study, she discovered that she didn’t have the right words to describe those experiments.